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Green card visa lottery from October 4th through November 5th

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently released information regarding the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Program (DV-2013) for fiscal year 2013 (October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013). The Lottery Program for DV-2013 registration will only last 30 days. The DOS will make available 50,000 "green cards" annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Similar to last year, the most significant change in the program for fiscal year 2013 is the DOS' notification of a participant's selection exclusively online. Beginning on May 1, 2012, applicants can check the status of their registration online via Entry Status Check at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov to check whether they were selected. Entry Status Check will also notify selected participants and provide them with instructions on the procedures for the application process and will confirm appointments for visa interviews. All entrants must check on the DOS website via the Entry Status Check whether they have been selected to participate in the Lottery. The Entry Status Check is the ONLY manner in which entrants will be notified of their selection. The DOS will NOT mail any correspondence to the selected applicants nor will it send out an email. Furthermore, the Entry Status Check will be the only way in which selected individuals will be provided further instructions on immigrant visa procedures.

The annual DV Lottery Program makes "green cards" available to foreign nationals meeting certain eligibility requirements. Applicants for Diversity Visas are chosen by a computer-generated random lottery drawing, The Diversity Visa "green cards", however, are distributed among six geographic regions with a greater number of visas going to regions with lower rates of immigration and with no visas going to citizens of countries sending more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the past five years. Within each region, no country may receive more than 7% of the available Diversity Visa "green cards" in any one year.

Countries Ineligible to Participate in DV-2013 Lottery Program

For the DV-2013 Lottery Program, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because they are the principal source countries of Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based immigration, or "high admission" countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (Mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Peru, South Korea, United Kingdom (which includes Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcaim, St. Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands – but not Northern Ireland), and Vietnam. Foreign nationals born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible for the Diversity Visa Lottery. A list of the countries whose natives are qualified for the DV-2013 Visa Lottery Program is contained in Exhibit A below.

Unlike last year, natives of Poland and South Sudan are now eligible for the program. However, natives of Bangladesh are not eligible for this year's program.

Registration Procedures

The entries for the DV-2013 Lottery Program must be submitted electronically between noon (E.S.T.) Tuesday October 4, 2011 through noon (E.S.T.) Saturday November 5, 2011. The DOS will not accept mail-in entries. Instead, the DOS will only accept entries made on an electronic diversity entry form which will be available at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Please note that the law allows only one entry by or for each person during each registration period. Receipt of more than one entry per person will disqualify the person from registration, regardless of the source of the entry.

The procedures for submitting an entry in the DV-2013 Lottery Program are as follows:

Entry Form Contents. The DOS will only accept completed Electronic Diversity Visa Entry Forms submitted electronically at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. All entries by an applicant will be disqualified if more than one entry for the applicant is received, regardless of who submitted the entry. The entry form will ask the applicant to submit the following information:

1. Full name;

2. Date of birth;

3. Gender;

4. City/town of birth;

5. Country of birth;

6. Country of eligibility or chargeability;

7. Attach the applicant's photograph according to the specifications described below;

8. Current mailing address;

9. Country where you live today;

10. Phone number (optional);

11. Email address;

12. Highest level of education completed;

13. Marriage status;

14. Number of children that are unmarried and under the age of 21 years of age. (Failure to list all children, who are eligible, will result in disqualification of the principal applicant and refusal of all visas in the case at the time of the visa interview.);

15. Spouse's information, including name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, country of birth and spouse's photograph that meets the previously described specifications. (Failure to list your spouse will result in disqualification of the principal applicant and refusal of all visas in the case at the time of the visa interview.);

16. Each child's information including name, date of birth, gender, city/town of birth, country of birth and photograph that meets the previously described specifications. The DOS emphasizes that failure to list all children will result in the disqualification of the entry form.

17. No signature required. The signature requirement on the entry form has been eliminated due to the new electronic entry form.

Photograph Requirements. The entry will be disqualified if photographs are not submitted of the applicant, his/her spouse and each child under the age of 21 (including all natural children as well as legally-adopted and stepchildren, except a child who is already a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident) even if the child no longer resides with the applicant and does not intend to immigrate under the Lottery Program. The photographs must be submitted electronically with the entry form. Group or family photos will not be accepted. There must be a separate photo for each family member. Each applicant, his/her spouse and each child will therefore need a computer file containing his/her digital photograph which will be submitted on-line with the entry form. The image file can be produced either by taking a new digital photograph or by scanning a photographic print with a digital scanner. The submitted digital images must conform to the following specifications:

New Digital Image

The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format;

The image must be in color - 24 bits per pixel (black and white or 8-bit images will not be accepted);

The maximum image size accepted is 240 kilobytes (240KB);

The minimum dimensions accepted are 600 pixels (width) by 600 pixels (height) and the height must equal the width;

Scanning a Submitted Photograph

Scanner Resolution must be at least 300 dots per inch (dpi);

The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format;

The maximum image file size accepted is 240 kilobytes (240KB);

Image resolution must be 600 by 600 pixels;

The image must be in color - 24 bits per pixel (black and white or 8-bit images will not be accepted);

Additional Specifications

The applicant, spouse or child must be directly facing the camera;

The head of the person being photographed must directly face the camera and should not be tilted up, down or to the side;

The head should cover about 50% of the area of the photograph;

The photograph should be taken with the person being photographed in front of a neutral, light-colored background (photographs taken with a very dark or patterned background will not be accepted);

Photographs in which the face of the person being photographed is not in focus will not be accepted;

Photographs in which the person being photographed is wearing sunglasses or other paraphernalia which detracts from the face will not be accepted; and

Photographs of applicants wearing head coverings or hats are only acceptable due to religious beliefs and still may not obscure any portion of the face of the applicant.

DOS Processing of Entries

After an applicant submits his/her entry, the DOS will send him/her an electronic confirmation notice of receipt of a completed entry form. Applicants will be selected at random by computer from among qualified entries. All entrants must check on the DOS website via the Entry Status Check whether they have been selected to participate in the Lottery on or after May 1, 2012. The Entry Status Check is the ONLY manner in which entrants will be notified of their selection. The DOS will NOT mail any correspondence to the selected applicants nor will it send out an email. The DOS normally notifies approximately 100,000 applicants that they have been selected through the DV Lottery Program. However, only 50,000 "green cards" are available annually. The green cards based upon the DV-2013 Lottery Program will be issued between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013. However, because more individuals will be registered than there are immigrant visas available, a registered applicant who wishes to receive his/her immigrant visa must be prepared to act quickly after being notified, especially if he/she is assigned a favorable lottery number in the random selection process. The DOS emphasized that random selection in the lottery process does NOT guarantee that an applicant will receive a "green card."

Education or Work Experience Required

In order to qualify for a "green card" through the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, each applicant must have at least a high school education or its equivalent or, within the past five years, have two years of work experience in an occupation requiring at least two years of training. A high school education or its equivalent is defined as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education in the United States or successful completion in another country of a formal course of elementary and secondary education comparable to a high school education in the United States. Evidence of educational work experience should not be submitted with the lottery entry but must be submitted to the consular official or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officer at the time of the visa or adjustment of status interview. In order to determine eligibility based on work experience, definitions from the Department of Labor's (DOL) O*Net On-Line database will be used.

DOS Does Not Charge to Enter the DV Lottery Program

The DOS indicated that there is no charge to enter the annual DV Lottery Program. The DOS emphasized that it does not employ outside consultants or private services to operate the program. It stated that a qualified entry submitted electronically directly by the applicant has an equal chance of being selected by the computer at the DOS Kentucky Consular Center as does an entry submitted electronically through a paid intermediary who completes the entry for the applicant. However, the DOS warned that if an applicant or a paid intermediary submits more than one entry per person, the person will be disqualified from the program. A special DV Lottery Case processing fee will be payable later by persons who "win" the lottery and are processed for a "green card" based upon the lottery program.

EXHIBIT A

REGIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF COUNTRIES

ELIGIBLE FOR THE DV-2013 LOTTERY PROGRAM

Except as noted, the list below shows the countries qualified within each geographic region for the DV-2013 Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery Program.

Africa:

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo

Congo, Democratic Republic of

Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Djibouti

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gabon

Gambia, The

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa

Sudan

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Tunisia

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

(Individuals born in the Gaza Strip are chargeable to Egypt)

Asia:

Afghanistan

Bahrain

Bhutan

Brunei

Burma

Cambodia

East Timor

Hong Kong Special Administrative

Region

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Israel

Japan

Jordan

Kuwait

Laos

Lebanon

Malaysia

Maldives

Mongolia

Nepal

North Korea

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Sri Lanka

Syria

Taiwan

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

Yemen

Natives of the following Asian countries do not qualify for this year's Lottery Program: Bangladesh, China (mainland-born), India, Pakistan, South Korea, Philippines and Vietnam. The Hong Kong S.A.R. and Taiwan do qualify and are listed above. Macau S.A.R. also qualifies and is listed below.

(Persons born in the areas administered by Israel, Jordan and Syria prior to June 1967 are chargeable, respectively, to Israel, Jordan and Syria.)

Europe

Albania

Andorra

Armenia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark *

Estonia

Finland

France*

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Kazakhstan

Kosovo

Kyrgyszstan

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macau S.A.R.

Macedonia

Malta

Moldova

Monaco

Montenegro

Netherlands*

Northern Ireland

Norway

Poland

Portugal*

Romania

Russia

San Marino

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Tajikistan

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Ukraine

Uzbekistan

Vatican City

*Including components and areas overseas.

Natives of the following European country do not qualify for this year's Lottery Program: Great Britain (United Kingdom). Great Britain (United Kingdom) includes the following dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands. Note that for purposes of the Lottery Program only, Northern Ireland is treated separately; Northern Ireland does qualify and is listed among the qualifying areas.

North America

The Bahamas.

In North America, natives of Canada and Mexico do not qualify for this year's Lottery Program.

Oceania

Australia*

Fiji

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia, Federated States of

Nauru

New Zealand*

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

*Including components and dependent areas overseas.

South America, Central America, and the Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Barbados

Belize

Bolivia

Chile

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominica

Grenada

Guyana

Honduras

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Uruguay

Venezuela

Natives of the following South America, Central America and Caribbean countries do not qualify for this year's Lottery Program: Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru.

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